Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours: tough and nuanced

Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours is a tough crime thriller with a plot that crunches hand-brake turns and a surprisingly delicate emotional timbre.

That it is a no budget feature takes a back seat to the pacey and intelligent storytelling, which trips back and forth in the edgy narrative.

Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours is a story of police ambition and craving for power. And it’s the shade of that craving for power, and of the two lead characters themselves as they grease the slippery pole that leaves a lasting impression.

Karl Kennedy-Williams and Jadson Vaughan are Frankie Mills and Parker Lyle, two PC plods who want to rise to the top and fight crime like proper detectives. Long hours and pressures of the job are putting Parker’s marriage under stress. While Frankie is more free ‘n’ easy. It’s a relationship based on history and a shared mutual outcome.

Kennedy-Williams manages to conjure up remorse and reflection with a facade that keeps his tough jaw from dropping. And Vaughan reflects the fraying of Parker’s nerves one strand at a time.

With plenty of time sat in a car, it’s a good thing these two have a chemistry that both purrs and bubbles. It also helps that strong editing keeps the stakeout from getting too dull.

Richard Anthony Dunford directs his own script in a plot which flashes back and forward and sideways with straightforward assurance. And the teasing out of a more nuanced approach to masculinity is admirable. As is his ability to add ambiguity to a moral situation that is anything but.

Now doing the international festival circuit Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours was premiered in the Princess Anne Theatre in London in November 2018. Keep up-to-date with the film on its website and its social medias: Twitter | Facebook